Witchfire [PG-13/OC/Chapter 5][Will give reps for reviews!]

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Figured I may as well post this. Three chapters in, I update this fairly frequently.

[spoiler=Chapter One] Legends tell of a large mountain that few had scaled. Legendary peaks high beyond the skyline, reaching for the heavens themselves. It is said that centuries back, Elves lived in these parts, performing magical rituals and dances. The legends say that he who scaled the mountain would see these Elves, and be invited into a heaven unlike any other.

But according to the myth, one day the Elves simply vanished. No one knows why, or how. Free from the superstitions and myths, we ascended this mountain and found a great river flowing downwards from the peak. A huge lake was the beginning of this river, created by the melting of snowcaps and a large amount of rainfall. The area nearby was a very large, lush forest. In between the great river and the forest was a stretch of very fertile land, and so we settled there.

And yet. The legends still are told here, and they say that when the Elves left, they left behind pockets of untamed magick that leaked into the land, causing the wildlife to become strange and alien. It was even said to infect people, turning them into the dreaded Warlocke. A Warlocke was created when some poor soul made a pact with a spirit, and in return for power they were to do a favor for the spirit. The Warlocke was created when they failed to hold up their end of the bargain.

Warlock. Oath-breaker. They became the bogeyman of these parts, horror stories mothers told their children to behave. But there were still stories, of people disappearing, never to be seen again. Many explanations were given, from the classic ‘lost in the woods’ story to the ‘kidnapped by a weir’ story. But no one truly believed the mundane and boring, they trusted in the fantastical. Even if they didn’t admit it.

So, the town lived under a lie they told themselves. Any talk of the supernatural was frowned upon, and at the same time was accepted as what really happened in those woods. So in the end, no one noticed when a small cottage appeared at the edge of the forest far from town, when three young girls started shopping in the markets.

It was almost as if they were always there. No one spoke of them; no one looked at them, or even acknowledged their existence.

And yet. There always is one of those, isn’t there? And yet there was something happening to the little town of superstitious villagers. Rumors began circulating about a red-haired girl that would steal your soul if you looked into her eyes, about a haunted house on the outskirts of town. Bothersome little things.

So the three girls lived in near-secrecy. The town officially ignored their presence, but behind their back, rumors were whirling. Little did the people know, their home life was not unlike any other. With maybe a few, key, differences.

“Cass! Cassie, where are you!”

A short, platinum-blonde girl in a white nightgown was wandering the cottage, calling out a name. A stuffed bear was loosely held in her grip as she wandered the house. “Caaassssiiiiiieee!” she wailed.

A second girl thumped down a staircase. This one had hair the colour of burnished copper, and wore a crimson nightgown. She carried no bear, and rubbed her eyes as she came down the stairs. “Hush, Echo, what is it?” the girl said in a soothing voice to the young girl.

“I want Cassie,” the girl, Echo, stated stubbornly.

“Sweetie, you aren’t supposed to be here without us. You could hurt yourself.” The redheaded girl took Echo by the hand and led her back up the stairs.

“Where is Cassie?” Echo grumpily asked, reluctantly letting the girl lead her.

“Out. Now come on, stop making a fuss and get back to sleep, it’s the crack of dawn.”

The girl guided Echos’ hands to her bed, upon which she clambered onto. She pulled the blankets up to her chin, her silvery eyes staring into the distance.

“Now go to sleep,” said the redhead in a stern voice.

As she was about to exit the room, she heard Echo saying "Gwen?"

“What is it?” Gwen said in exasperation.

“Tell Cassie to come see me when she gets back, okay?”

Gwen grumbled an affirmative as she slumped off towards her room. Echo snuggled up in her blankets clutching her bear to her chest. “Don’t worry Lawrence. Cassie will be back soon.”

…

A girl ran down a path leading to a torn up shack, carrying a basket and a sack. She wore a dark grey cloak that covered almost her whole body. She reached the door, stamped her feet on a mat in front of it, and slipped inside. The sun was just rising above the eastern peak, and little rays of sunlight filtered in through the windows and cracks in the wall. The girl deposited her packages on a worn down table, sat down on a chair and sighed.

She then removed her cloak, revealing long brown hair going down to a little above her waist. Going out the back door she located a well, and after retrieving some water, splashed her face a bit. When she came back in, she heard a chatter coming from the upper levels of the cottage.

She seemingly glided up the stairway and opened the first door she came through, and found a blonde girl playing with a stuffed bear, sitting on her bed.

“Cassie!” Echo shouted in delight. “You’re back!”

Cassie walked up to her little sister and hugged her tight. “Hey kiddo. How long have you been up?”

“Ages. It’s all Lawrences fault though, he thought he saw a monster. I scared it away though.”

Cassie tousled the little girls hair, chuckling. “Well, let’s get you downstairs. I got breakfast. Your favorite.” She swept the little girl and her bear up in her arms, and walked down the stairs, rapping her hand on another door on her way. “Gwen! Up! Food!”

Echo had just been situated at the table with a sizable plate of potatoes in front of her when Gwen stumbled down the stairs and plopped into a chair.

“Whazzforbreakfast.” She mumbled incoherently.

“I’m sorry?” Cassie said, feigning confusion.

“Whaz. For. Breakfast.” Gwen mumbled a little louder.

“Sorry, can’t hear you.”

“What! Is! For! Breakfast?!”

Laughing, Cassie slid a similar, smaller version of what Echo had in front of Gwen. “Eat up. These are good ones, there’s even some bread if you like.”

“Bread? Do you *want* me to get fat?” Gwen said through a mouth of potato. “It’s bad enough I’m eating these.”

Cassie merely shook her head and sat down at the table, eating her own share of potatoes. Unlike her sisters, who were perfectly content to eat with their fingers, Cassie used a wooden spoon she had fashioned.

The girls ate quickly, with Echo letting out a little burp when she finished. Immediately blaming it on Lawrence, she got down and went out the back door to play.

“I heard a new rumor today.” Cassie said offhandedly as she gathered up the ceramic dishes they had used.

“What is it this time? Are we flying moon monkeys here to brainwash everyone?” Gwen said sarcastically. “Ooh, or maybe we’re snake people that are going to swallow everyone whole!”

Cassie laughed. “No, that was last week.” They both laughed for a minute or so, then Cassie continued. “No, this one was a bit different. This time, there was apparently…black magic involved.”

Gwen brushed her mess of hair out of her face, immediately attentive. “Come again? I mean, not like the morons actually have enough brain cells to recognize actual black magic, but still, come again?”

“Crops going bad, animals dying. I figure it’s just sickness, but who knows. Maybe someone decided that this place had it too easy, wants to shake it up a bit.”

Gwen shook her head, scoffing. “Please. We’re near the top of a god damn mountain, smack dab in between two sections of forest, next to a massive river with rapids that even make me queasy.”

Cassie shrugged. It was probably just sickness. Even so, she was going to replenish the wards around the cabin. In case she was wrong.

“Caaaaasssiiiiieeee…..” came a voice from outside, sounding very apprehensive and nervous. Cassie rushed to the back door and saw Echo standing stock still, her bear held very tightly to her chest.

“Something….isn’t riiiight….” Echo said, staring blankly ahead. In the grass, Cassie saw movement. Shifting, slithering…movement.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Chapter Two] Cassie ran do the door and said, “Echo, come back in the house.” in a stern voice. Echo slowly began backing towards the house, following her sisters’ voice. “That’s it, follow my voice. It’ll be okay.”

Gwen followed her sister and muttered to her; “I got it. Think it’s a normal snake or another one of Them?”

Cassie sighed. “I don’t know. I’m not feeling anything, but we’ve been fooled before,” she said cautiously. She turned back to Echo and saw she was about halfway there. “You’re doing good sweetie, just keep moving towards me.” She called out.

While Cassie attempted to get Echo to safety, Gwen had taken a longer route around and was coming up on the large, yellow snake from behind. “What the hell are you…” she muttered to herself as she looked at it. Red eyes, a strange brown pattern. It might have looked like a rattler or a corn snake, except the thing was three feet long and a hand’s breadth wide.

Gwen pulled a glass bottle filled with a red liquid out of her pouch. She tapped the glass, and moved towards the snake, making sure not to shake the bottle. When she was nearly to the snake, it noticed and turned to face her, its head eye level with hers from only a foot away.

“Let’s see how you like the taste of Alchemists Fire.” She said as she hurled the bottle at the ground near the snake. A fireball bloomed where the bottle hit, engulfing the snake in fire. An unearthly scream came from the snake as the body turned to ash.

As the snake burned, a shadow writhed about in the air above it. It had the vague form of a ghost, but it moved and changed so much it was hard to keep a bead on it. When the snake finally died, the shadow screamed again and flew off into the distance. Gwen ran towards the house, where Cassie was clutching Echo and Lawrence to her chest…

…

The spirit flew far into the woods, screaming. It had nearly no coherent thought, other than to get away from the being that scorched it. It flew, and flew, and flew. Until it hit something. What did it hit? It was like a web, a black sticky web. It tried to get away. Then it saw a black silhouette come closer with a wand. It muttered a few things, pointed the wand at the shadow, and suddenly the shadow found itself in a bottle.

Nyssa walked back to her friends, another ingredient in her pocket. They were sitting around a cauldron, with various books, herbs, and bottles strewn across wooden tables. Underneath the cauldron was a fire, but not just any fire. It was a green flickering flame, with a black shadow appearing in it every so often.

“I see you found us a shadow. How did you catch it?” The woman asking this question was sitting over the fire, and had her jet-black hair done up in a bun. She wore a black lace dress, and when she moved it was very hard to actually keep track of her. She flitted and blurred when she moved, rather than just walking.

“Hello to you too Morgana.” Nyssa said, snidely. “It got tangled up in my web something fierce. I think it was running away from something.”

“Reeeally? How curious. May I see it?” Morgana held her hand out, and made it clear she was only asking to be polite. She expected to see it.

For a moment, Nyssa contemplated just throwing the thing into the cauldron right away. It was ready for it, after all. She then decided it wouldn’t be worth fighting over, and meekly put the bottle in Morgana’s outstretched hand.

The woman in black examined the bottle thoroughly before opening it and waving the shadow out. It tried to run, but was held in place by some unseeable force. “Now hold still dearie. I need to get into your mind for juuust a minute…”

Morgana closed her eyes and sat there for a few minutes, the shadow struggling and writhing in the air. Nyssa and the other witch sat still around the cauldron, waiting.

The other witch quickly ran out of patience. “Well? What was it running from?”

Morgana reached up and grasped the shadow in her hand, promptly throwing it into the cauldron. A shriek came from the cauldron, and was stopped as abruptly as it had begun.

A very large smile grew across her face. “We have neighbors not too far from here. And the town isn’t far either.”

“But what was the shadow running from?”

“Alchemists Fire. It seems we are not the only ones in this cursed mountain with magical talents. I suggest we pay the town a little visit.” Morgana said, her smile wide. “And Alice?”

The other witch looked at Morgana curiously. “Yes?”

“Interrupt me again and, cousin or not, you will not live to see your next meal. Are we clear?”

Alice gulped. “Y-yes ma’am. Clear as crystal.”

“Then let us be off. We have far to go, almost ten miles. It even took the shadow a little over an hour to get here, and we all know how fast a shadow travels. Pack up your things.”

The Coven of Darkness gathered their things and set off towards the town that Cassandra, Guinevere, and Echo called home.

…

Night had fallen. Cassie was preparing dinner for her sisters, as Gwen was up in her lab and Echo was playing with her bear. She had replenished the wards around the house earlier today, repelling any unwanted company and rendering the house nearly invisible.

Echo was having a very long, apparently heated, discussion with her bear about fish, and whether they were good to eat or not. Echo was on the ‘no’ side of the discussion, with Lawrence apparently on the ‘yes’. Cassie laughed to herself as she heard Echo gasping with shock and indignation at some unheard insult from her bear.

“Cassie! Lawrence needs a time-out! He’s saying terrible things!” Echo was tugging on Cassies’ skirt, holding her bear up.

Taking Lawrence, Cassie feigned anger at him. “Lawrence! What have you been saying to my Echo?”

“He said that I was a big dummy for not eating fish!” Echo said angrily.

Cassie gasped. She put Lawrence up on a shelf, informing him that he was being very naughty and was going to have to stay there without dinner. Echo had a very large grin on her face throughout all this, and wrapped her arms around Cassie’s legs. “Can I help you with dinner?”

“Sorry honey, but you wouldn’t be much help. Maybe Gwen can play with you?”

“Gwen is up in her smelly room again. She says that I’m a danger to the family when I’m in there.”

Cassie shook her head. Although Gwen was technically correct, she wished that she could be a little more kind with Echo.

Gwen, although already shaping up to be a naturally powerful witch, had taken a very keen interest in Alchemy, and had found old tomes and tools in their father’s supplies.

The sister’s parents had both been very powerful, very gifted people. Their mother was a White Witch of the best caliber, but they didn’t know much about their father. While their mother was alive, he wasn’t spoken of much. Only that he was a very good Alchemist and very magically gifted. They were never told what kind of magic, however. All of his books were Alchemy-related, and he had left nothing else behind when he died.

Their father had died fourteen years ago, when Cassie was two years old. Their mother died six years ago in childbirth, with Echo. They never knew how their father died, but he left the family three things. An apple tree he had grown from a seed, a chest of Alchemy supplies, and a stuffed bear. The same bear that sat on a shelf in a time-out.

Gwen had claimed the Alchemy supplies as her own, taking a spare room in the house as her lab. After the first explosion, Cassie placed wards on the inside of the room to prevent the rest of the house from going up. Echo had, naturally, claimed the bear and named it Lawrence. And Cassie had taken the tree, tending to it with just as much care as her father.

As the food was nearly done, fresh carrots with potatoes and salted pork, Echo started to get upset. Echo wasn’t one to get upset very often, and it was only when something was very wrong.

Then Cassie knew. Someone was near the house. The wards she had placed alerted her to someone nearby, so she ran to a window and looked. Three women stood outside, each of them in a dress. One was black lace. One had a black leather tunic over hers, with green patterns on her dress. The other wore a black skirt and a red tunic. They were watching the house for a few minutes before turning and heading towards the town.

Echo calmed down soon after they left. But before they ate, she quietly said something that would haunt Cassie for the rest of her life. Something she should have paid more attention to, but was too distracted to notice.

“Lawrence says the bad witches are gonna burn the town down….” Echo whispered to herself as she sat in her chair, waiting for her food. “Burn it to the ground….”[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Chapter Three] “Keep moving. Let us take advantage of the darkness while we still have it,” Morgana hissed at her companions as they raced through the forest towards the town. They had encountered a ruined old shack earlier, where they had encountered what seemed to be a ward surrounding it. They weren’t here for a derelict old building, however.

“Alice, do you have the Witch Fire ready?” Nyssa asked the russet-haired girl who raced beside her. Alice nodded, keeping up with her friend and cousin. “Then let us have some fun tonight.” Nyssa said gleefully.

…

“Dinner is served!” Cassie shouted to Gwen, and was answered by a resounding thud of the wards stopping yet another explosion from damaging the house further. Shaking her head, Cassie sat down next to Echo at the table, who was picking at her food.

“Sorry! You startled me a little, that’s all,” Gwen said as she came racing down the stairs, her hair in a disorderly mess. She brushed what she could out of her face and began to eat, savoring the salted pork. It wasn’t something they ate often.

And so they ate, passing the time with conversation and laughter. It wasn’t until a few hours later that Cassie saw the pillar of smoke rising in the distance.

“The town! The town is on fire!” She called out, throwing on her cloak. Echo arrived at her side with Gwen in tow, who was also wearing a cloak.

“I know, I saw the smoke. Let’s go.”

“What about Echo?”

“She’ll be fine, the wards are up. Let’s go! We don’t have a lot of time, with that much smoke that means a huge fire.”

And so Guinevere and Cassandra flew down the path at an inhuman speed, leaving the young girl staring out the door with blank eyes. “You were right Lawrence. The bad witches are burning down the town.” She shut the door behind her as she went to attempt to fetch her bear…

…

A gleeful cackle could be heard over the crackle and roar of emerald-green flames. Morgana was standing in the centre of town, watching it burn. She was quite satisfied with her work. The potion was doing an admirable job in burning up the wooden town. But her happiness was cut short when she saw ice forming over the flames, attempting to quench them.

“What? What is happening? Nyssa?” She shouted, looking for the witch in black and green. She stood a few feet away, staring at the ice that threatened their fun.

“It seems that our neighbors have come to assist the town. And it seems, my dear Morgana, we have a few Sorceresses to deal with.”

…

“Cassie! Use your ice and freeze over the houses while I try and stop the flames from getting to the forest and crops!” Gwen shouted to her sister as they reached the town. Nodding an affirmative, Cassie veered off in another direction, chanting. When she finished, ice sprung from her fingertips and began slowly creeping towards the flames, freezing them out.

After confirming that the ice would work, Gwen found a good place to start. She conjured up a flame in her hand and began her work creating a buffer. “Let's hope nothing gets out of control.”

She began burning a strip of grass about two yards wide, and began making a circle around the town. She was about halfway finished when a girl dressed in red and black crashed into her, winking out her flame and throwing her back.

Alice lowered her wand as she walked towards the girl on the ground. “You made my cousin angry. So, if I don’t get rid of you here, it’s going to be VERY unpleasant for the both of us. Am I clear?”

Gwen rolled onto her back, and held her hands out at the witch. “Crystal.” She then blasted out a cone of flame in the witches face.

…

Cassie had just finished putting out one house when she made to move on to the next one. But she was stopped by a witch dressed in green and black, holding out a wand pointed at her. “I’m guessing you’re the cause of this fire?” She asked cautiously.

“Quite correct. And you are ruining our fun. So I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Nyssa said, a lopsided smile on her face.

Cassie began making slow motions with her hands behind her back. “That isn’t going to happen.” She then began muttering an incantation under her breath.

“Oh? So you’re going to fight me? I don’t think so!” Nyssa shot a blot of black energy straight at Cassandra’s chest. It collided, and she turned to ash. “Well. That was simple.”

As she made to walk away, she found herself frozen to the ground. Turning, she saw the girl that she had just turned to ash standing a couple yards behind her. “Did you really think it’d be that easy?”

…

“Lawrence, come on! You gotta get down from there! Otherwise the bad witches are gonna get Cassie and Gwen, and there won’t be anyone left except us!” Echo pouted as she attempted to pull herself up onto the counter where she could reach her bear. When she failed this, she sat down where she was with a thud.

She thought. And thought. And then she had it. She reached her hand out and said something she had heard Gwen say when she couldn’t find an Alchemy tool. Within a few seconds, she felt Lawrence’s fur in her hands. Smiling, she went over to the door and began walking towards the smell of smoke.

…

Alice shrieked as the fire singed her skin and hair. Luckily she managed to throw up a shield before the flames could do any real damage, but her poor, beautiful skin was burned. This wouldn’t stand.

“I didn’t want to do this. But you leave me no choice.” Alice said as she raised her wand. She chanted a quick incantation and a skeletal hand pushed itself out of the ground, followed by two more. Gwen back quickly away as three skeletons pulled themselves out of the ground and began shambling towards her.

Then she smiled. This was exhilarating. She loved it. Raising her hands, she concentrated. And a small ball of fire began forming in between her hands. Keeping it contained, she poured more and more energy into it, then hurled it at the skeletons. A massive ball of flame rose up, consuming the skeletons and turning bone to ash. Alice looked mortified, then quickly remedied the situation. Normal skeletons wouldn’t do anything.

Gwen saw her pull out a pouch and pour a few teeth out of it into her hand. “Dragon’s teeth, cursed under the light of a full moon.” Alice whispered with glee. She thought she’d never get to use these. She buried them in the ground, and three more skeletons rose up. Except these wore armor and had swords, and moved a bit faster than the others. Gwen had her work cut out for her as she fumbled in her pouch for a certain bottle…

…

“But…you were dead! I turned you to ash!” Nyssa said in shock, her mouth hanging open.

“You saw me turn to ash. But I didn’t really.” Cassandra promptly disappeared, and reappeared on a rooftop to Nyssa’s left. “I also was never behind you. I also might not even be up here. Who knows?”

Nyssa gasped. “You….you’re a mind mage. An illusionist.”

Cassandra smiled. “Not just an illusionist. I really do want to know why you’re here, y’know.”

Growling, Nyssa said; “If you want to get in my head, you’ll have to get past this!” She then shrieked and pointed her wand straight up. A huge, black web flew out of it and began settling around her in a large area. Cassandra, thinking fast, pulled out her own wand and severed the web around her with shards of ice before it landed.

“Did you really think a web would stop me?” Cassie asked, a little surprised.

“No. But then again, do you really think I’d cast just a web?” Nyssa smiled her lopsided smile again as Cassie saw the shapes coming towards her. Five black spiders, with green patterns on their backs. Normally spiders didn’t scare her, but these were different.

These spiders were the size of a human.

…

Echo got closer and closer to the smoke, and she eventually reached the town. She could hear her sisters fighting, but couldn’t tell where. She then heard a sickly sweet voice behind her.

“Oohhh, look! A little girl lost. What’s your name, sweetheart?” Morgana was not five feet behind Echo, smiling.

“My sister told me not to talk to strangers. You can talk to Lawrence though.” Echo said matter of factly, turning in the general direction of the voice.

Morgana looked slightly confused. “Lawrence?”

Echo smiled. “Yeah!” She then put her bear down on the ground and drew a circle around him with her finger. It glowed white, and Morgana backed away a bit. Lawrence grew in size until it was no longer the size of a teddy bear, but more like a grizzly. It also looked much more like a grizzly. It even seemed to sound like one.

Echo finished by laying her hand on the grizzly’s back. A white pattern formed on the bears’ back, and it let out an earth-shattering roar. “Mrs. Bad Witch, I want you to meet my bear Lawrence. He’s the bestest bear in the whole wide world, and he’s gonna kick your butt!”[/spoiler]

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

For anyone glancing in the thread to have a look-see, I endorse having a read of this. It's an enjoyable read.

[Alice Moonflowyr]

[spoiler=Chapter Four] Gwen backed away from the skeletons as quickly as she could; fumbling in her pouch for a bottle she felt would come in handy right about now. These skeletons were far more agile than the previous ones however, and lunged after her with their curved swords. One of them managed to cut her arm pretty severely and she fell to the ground with a cry.

Alice walked up behind her warriors and looked at Gwen with a sad look on her face. “I’m sorry it has to come to this. But I really can’t let you live.” As she said this, she waved her hand at the skeletons and walked back into town. The three skeletons approached Gwen with swords held high, ready to kill her.

Gwen’s last thought was of her sisters before she passed out. But before the black, she thought she felt something. Like the wind blowing hard on her face…

…

The spiders collapsed on Cassie before she had time to react, attempting to tie her up with webbing and bite her with poisonous fangs. She screamed as one of the spiders managed to sink its teeth into her leg. Mustering up as much power as she could, she screamed out a few words and disappeared into thin air. Nyssa screamed in rage. “Find her! She can’t have gone far in her condition, so find her!”

The spiders raced off in different directions as Nyssa seethed with rage. No prey got away from her. None. She would have her way with this girl when she found her. She would kill her in the most creative and painful way she could think of.

No one crossed Nyssa, Black Witch of the Spiders.

…

Morgana stumbled backwards in surprise as the bear roared at her. This girl was no ordinary girl. She raised her wand and screamed an incantation, causing a black shadow to reach out from her own like water trickling down a mountainside. It flowed across the ground towards the girl and her bear, but Echo merely smiled.

“The darkness can’t hurt us. It’s just imaginary.” Echo said as she lifted up her hands and spoke a few words of her own. A bright, swirling light appeared on the ground around her feet. When the shadows touched the edge they dissipated into nothingness, leaving Echo untouched.

Morgana snarled. The fabled White Witch was something that was damn near impossible to kill. The ultimate power in defensive magic, the White Witch could cause no direct harm to others with their magic, but also were naturally talented in not getting hurt themselves. The only reason she had to fear this one was that stupid bear.

White Witches were also quite fond of finding a familiar to do their fighting for them, although they usually chose something like a cat. A bear was something different that Morgana was not quite sure how to approach.

She didn’t have long to think however, as Lawrence launched himself at her. A couple thousand pounds of magically-enhanced bear smashed into the woman in black, and Morgana could hear bones snapping underneath the force of the blow. She screamed in agony as Lawrence roared again at her, raising a paw to finish the job.

Before he could strike, Echo screamed. “Gwen! No!”

Lawrence turned and looked at the girl, who was whipping her head in all different directions. “Lawrence, Gwen! Gwen is hurt! She’s gonna die!” The bear raced towards the girl and flipped her onto his back with his head.

Leaving the Black Witch broken and lying on the stone ground, the bear raced towards Alice and the skeletal warriors. Alice had begun making her way back, and Echo reached Gwen just as the fatal blow was about to strike. She screamed, and an orb of white energy appeared around Gwen, stopping the sword in its tracks.

Lawrence ran towards the girl and gently picked her up in his mouth, ignoring the skeletons attempting to stab him. With Echo concentrating on Gwen, three strikes made it through to the bear, and Echo sensed he wouldn’t last much longer in this form.

“Lawrence, get to the house! Run!” Echo cried out.

The bear ran full tilt towards the house, leaving the skeletons behind…

…

“Cousin! What happened to you?” Alice raced towards Morgana, who was lying on the ground clutching her chest.

“That…stupid…bear. Broke my…ribs. At least three of them. They got away….where is Nyssa…?” Morgana croaked weakly.

“Here. The mind mage escaped, but not before she was bitten by one of my spiders. They’re looking for her now.” Nyssa appeared out of an alley, and lifted Morgana up.

Morgana cried out in pain, but gritted her teeth and allowed herself to be carried into the woods, leaving the still-burning town behind.

“Wait, she was bitten? Won’t she just die anyway?” Alice asked, trying to keep pace with Nyssa.

“She wasn’t bitten by a lethal spider. Well, not a very lethal one. The poison she was bitten with will slowly infect her system, causing her to become weaker and weaker. It will eventually kill her by weakening her heart enough so it simply stops beating.”

“H-how long will it take for that to happen…?” Alice whispered, appalled by what Nyssa had done. She never enjoyed cruelty, or killing. When her cousin made her, she got it over with as quickly as she could and tried not to think about it. But this…this was ridiculous.

“A year, just about.” Nyssa said curtly after thinking for a minute. “But if I have my way, she’ll die long before that. I’ll be making sure of that.”

…

Cassie gasped as the pain racked her body. She was not ten feet away from the doorway of her house, inside which she hoped was an antidote. She had teleported not too far from where she was now, and although the effort had nearly killed her, she knew that if she didn’t get inside fast, the poison may as well do her in for good.

As she nearly reached the door, she heard heavy footsteps behind her. As she turned around, they slowly got lighter and lighter, until they sounded much like those of…

“Echo…” Cassie said weakly as her little sister rushed to her side. “Why are you here…where’s Gwen…?”

“Cassie? Cassie, what happened to you!? Where are you hurt, tell me!” Echo began feeling Cassies body, searching for an injury. When she got to her leg, she felt the blood and gasped. “What happened…?”

“Not now baby, I need Gwen. Where…where is she.” Cassie closed her eyes as another bout of pain shot through her leg.

“She got stabbed in the arm. Lawrence got her away, but she lost a lot of blood. We need to patch her up and get some food in her.”

Cassie panicked for a second, then nodded. “Help me up.”

Echo put her older sisters arm over her shoulder, and led her inside the house. She then ran back out and carried Gwen inside, breathing heavily as she sat her on a chair. “The bandages, where are they?” she asked Cassie.

Cassie took a deep breath. “Second cabinet next to the pantry. It’s down low. It should be in a basket right in front, a big pile of them.”

Echo felt around for the cabinet and opened it up. “They’re here.”

After tending to Gwen’s wound, she splashed some water on her face. Gwen woke with a start, and a scream. “Where am I? Am I dead?”

“No. But I need…help.” Cassie said, gasping. Gwen got her bearings quickly, and rushed over to Cassie. “I got bit. Spider. I think it was poisonous.”

Gwen nodded. She felt a little dizzy, but rest could wait till later. She raced upstairs to her lab and found a book about poison and antidotes. Each spider poison had its own antidote, and this one was most likely magically summoned.

Back in the kitchen, she asked Cassie questions about the spider that bit her.

When she knew, she fell silent.

“Gwen? Gwen, what is it?”

“There….isn’t an antidote. For the poison. And it’s a slow one. The poison will deteriorate your system until your heart simply becomes too weak to beat anymore. The process can take about a year.”

Cassie paled. She slumped back in her chair. One year to live. Then she would just…die? Just like that? “Are you sure there isn’t a cure?” she whispered.

“Not an Alchemical one. The only way to cure this particular poison is via an artifact called the Arachna Wand. It’s said to heal any ailment caused by a spider. It can also do the reverse, which is why it is currently sealed away in a temple in god knows where.” Gwen said, head in her hands.

“I think…I think I know someone who knows where the wand is.” Cassie whispered, her voice breaking. Gwen’s head shot up, and she had a faint glimmer of hope.

“You remember Amy, right?” Cassie said, a faint smile playing on her face.

Gwen’s heart sank. Amy was a self-righteous, treasure hunting bitch who had a minor talent for Alchemy and a larger talent for pissing people off. She lived further out in the woods where she stored a large amount of artifacts and magical components.

“You’re lucky I love you so damn much Cass.” Gwen muttered as she laid her head down on the table.

Cassie smiled a little more, reaching out and holding her sisters hand. “If anyone knows where this Arachna wand is, it’ll be Amy. Plus, I think she liked me well enough. I don’t think she’d let me die because she has problems with you.”

Gwen sighed. “Then we leave should leave now before those other Witches show up again. I think they aren’t exactly happy with us living.”

“Actually,” Echo piped up, “Lawrence smashed up one of them pretty bad. Her chest made a big snap sound, so I think they won’t be bothering us for a while.”

Gwen blinked. Echo was there? When? How? And what did her stuffed bear have to do with anything? She looked at Cassie and saw the same bewildered look on her face.

“If one of them is really hurt, we can rest up here for the night…leave when we’re mostly fully functioning.” Cassie said slowly. Gwen nodded and headed off to bed, scratching her arm a bit. She vowed to herself she would get that Alice back once this was over.

Cassie sighed. This day was definitely not going well.[/spoiler]

[Alice Moonflowyr]

[spoiler=Chapter Five] Cassie’s dreams were troubled that night. Spiders and dark things ran through shadows, and dark things screamed at her. She collapsed, screaming, and saw blood on her hands. She awoke with a start, seeing Echo sitting beside her on the bed.

“You were moaning and shaking. Did you have a bad dream?” Echo asked in a whisper, her silver eyes wide.

Cassie wiped the sweat from her brow and sat up, putting her head between her knees. “Yeah. Just a bad dream.”

Echo held out her stuffed bear. “You should get a hug from Lawrence. He’s good at scaring bad things away.”

Cassie smiled and took the bear from Echo’s hands. She squeezed it to her chest and felt a little better. Echo smiled and gave her a hug. “Gwen is still asleep. She’s snoring and everything. When are we gonna go see Amy?”

“Is the sun coming up yet?” Cassie asked, rubbing her eyes a little.

“I don’t know. Go check.” Echo said, giggling a little. She smiled and took her bear back. “Can I go get Gwen? She told me to wake her up when we were gonna go see the Bit-“

“Ohhkay! Don’t finish that. And don’t say that word.” Cassie put her hand over Echos mouth as she said this, and they both started laughing. Cassie got up and walked over to the window, pushing back the curtains. The sun was just peeking up over the horizon. “Yeah, go wake up Gwen. We should get ready; Amy is pretty far from here.”

Echo clambered down off the bad and walked off down the hallway towards Gwen’s room, which seemed to be the origin of a loud snoring sound. As Echo tackled the job of waking up a log, Cassie pulled on a pair of pants and a tough leather tunic. A trek through the woods was no place for a dress.

She was brushing her hair when pain stabbed through her leg, causing her to cry out and collapse to the floor. Light flashed before her eyes as she gasped with pain, her leg pulsing. Gwen dashed into the room, fully awakened, and knelt beside her sister, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“The poison is going to do that for the first week or so,” she murmured. “After that the pain goes. But then the weakness will set in and that will most likely be worse than the pain.”

Cassie wiped her eyes. “Then we need to get to Amy. We have to find that wand.”

Gwen nodded. She pulled her sister to her feet and brushed some hair out of her face. After pulling on her own leather attire, she dressed Echo in the same manner.

“Did the fire ever reach the stables?” Cassie asked Gwen, as she leaned against a wall. “We may need some horses.”

Gwen thought for a moment, and then nodded. “I managed to get a buffer in between the town and the stables. Unless they went out of their way to light it, the stables should still be intact.”

They packed up. Food, water. Clothing, small valuables. Who knew how long they would be gone? Gwen packed up some portable alchemical tools, and brought a few large leather pouches with her. “They’re specially made to keep herbal ingredients fresh. I’ll bring some basic stuff with me, but I’ll probably have to scrounge up some things wild if we need anything exotic.”

Cassie smiled. Gwen’s concoctions would most likely be quite welcome, seeing as the forest was slightly less than safe.

After they were fully packed, they headed out towards the stables. It was unoccupied except for five horses. “We only need two. Pick one out Gwen, I’ll find one for me and Echo.” Cassie climbed over the fence and began inspecting the horses, Gwen following behind.

They had ridden all these horses before for various reasons, and they each already had a horse in mind. Gwen chose a chestnut horse named Emra, and Cassie chose a black one named Kuul. They were both fast when they needed to be, but they also had a lot of stamina, and could go all day at a slower speed.

Cassie mounted Kuul and pulled Echo up in front of her. They never used saddles, having always ridden bareback. Gwen was right behind her on Emra. “Gate open?” Cassie asked Gwen, who nodded in response.

They rode out the gate, and into the forest. They had a lot of ground to cover, so they found the path they usually took and let the horse get up to a gallop.

The girls had cleared out this path years before when they started riding, and the horses knew it almost as well as they did. For the next hour or so, nothing but the thundering of hooves and the jostling of bodies was heard.

After a while, they entered a clearing. It was almost perfectly circular, with a large stone in the centre of it. Tying the horses off to some trees, the girls headed towards the centre of the clearing so they could get their bearings.

“It’s been a while since we’ve visited Amy. Which way is North?” Gwen asked, staring up at the sky.

Cassie located the sun, which was just barely reaching its peak. She pointed in the right direction. “That way. It’s a bit of a tangle in there; we’ll have to take it slow with the horses. And hope we don’t encounter any of the locals.”

As they jumped down from the rock, Cassie cried out and collapsed, white light flashing in front of her eyes. Gwen rushed to her side and put her arm around her. “Leg?” she asked.

Cassie nodded and gasped with pain. “It’s…getting worse. This is gonna last...all…week?” she muttered weakly. Gwen nodded, frowning. “And there isn’t…anything you can do?”

Gwen sat for a moment, thinking. She then pulled out her sacks and rifled through them a bit. “Well…no. Not now, not while we’re riding. There is a painkiller I can brew up, but it’ll make you super drowsy as a side effect. It’s actually used to help people sleep, for the most part.”

Cassie sighed as the pain faded away. “So I basically have to grit my teeth and deal with it until the week is over?”

“Well…unless Amy has some more exotic supplies, yes. There is another thing I could try and make, but I need herbs that just don’t really grow nearby. So either Amy has them or you deal with it.” Gwen smiled sadly and rubbed her sister’s head. “It’s only a week. We’ll get to Amy’s in about a day or so. Don’t worry.”

Meanwhile, Echo was petting the horses and chatting with them. She was still sitting on Kuul, and she was petting his neck and talking about whatever happened to pop into her mind. She waited until she heard her sisters walking back, then she said “I like this horsie. He’s funny. He told me a really funny joke about a pineapple.”

Cassie smiled painfully and poked her sister’s nose. “I bet. Now come on, scooch. We have some riding to do and not a lot of time to do it in.”

Echo slid forward a little and let Cassie get on behind her, and Gwen pulled herself up on Emra. “Hyah!” they shouted as they kicked their heels into the horses, and they disappeared off into the woods, following a path that they hadn’t gone down for years.

The trees were ancient and tall, higher than a giant. The trunks were thick, and Cassie doubted she could even get her arms halfway around one. There was a barely clear path for the horses to walk on, and they went north as accurately as they could, dodging roots, streams, and fallen trees. It was cool underneath the trees, the sunlight filtering in through thousands of leaves and branches, playing shadows along the ground.

Echo stared blankly ahead, listening intently to the noises in the forest. She could hear squirrels and birds in their nests, and the soft wind rustling the leaves. A crow flew overhead, cawing. The horses slowed their pace to a walk as the three girls wondered at the forest.

“It’s been ages since we’ve been in here…” Gwen said as she gazed around her in wonder. “This place is amazing…”

Cassie smiled and nodded. She remembered riding through here a long time ago, before her mother passed away. Before they lived in a derelict old wreck of a house, before they were forced to live invisibly to others.

“Come now, if I remember correctly there is an abandoned spring nearby. We’ll stop for a drink there, and then move on,” Cassie said as she and her horse cantered on ahead.

“I can hear the forest,” Echo whispered with a huge grin on her face. “I can hear it speaking.” She lifted her arms in the air and leaned back into Cassie, who smiled and pushed some hair out of her sister’s face.

After an hour or so the sun was close to sinking behind the horizon. Cicadas and crickets began playing their song, as the night filled the forest with all manner of beast both fair and foul. They had reached the spring and had drunk their fill, and began to set up a camp. They tied off the horses and found shelter in a small cave near the spring. It didn’t go back very far and seemed completely abandoned.

“Nothing here but dust…” Gwen whispered as she looked around, squinting. “Light up a candle will you Cass?”

A low flickering light flooded the cave as Cassie handed Gwen a candle, which she lit with a spark from her fingertip. They checked for bones and any sign of a nest, and when none were found, they set up sleeping bags. Echo snuggled up near the back of the cave five feet in, and Cassie leaned up against the wall.

“I’ll keep watch for now. You need to rest.” Gwen said as she tousled her older sister’s hair. She then smiled. “Don’t worry; I won’t fall asleep on you. I have some brews to do.”

Cassie giggled a little and closed her eyes, letting her sister pet her head till she fell asleep.

Gwen smiled as Cassie drifted off to sleep. But the smile didn’t reach her bright blue eyes, which were filled with a mixture of sadness and anger. She pulled up a spot near the cave entrance, lit a few candles and laid out a mat of leather. She erected a setup of tools and began working. She wasn’t going to throw all her trust at Amy to save her sister’s life.

Either she would find the Arachna Wand with her sister, or she’d create an antidote. One way or another, she was not about to let her sister die.
[/spoiler]